Crossroads of Character: Learning to Make Wise Choices

There are 12 stories. Each one addresses a character quality and I think they are good stories overall. They are short, most of them are a 2 page spread with photos. Each story has the character quality at the top with a definition and bible verse. Most of the bible verses are good, but I did not understand the one about patience at all, so I'm guessing a kid wouldn't either. This is the verse for patience: "And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Galatians 6:9A couple of times the book brought up that you should do the right thing because God is always watching you, and I think once one of the kids prayed for help to do the right thing and then she did.I liked the photos. It made the stories more fun and made it feel like they were real kids, which they are. I am a photographer and yes, they are amateur pictures where the flash is used poorly and the photographer clearly does not notice lighting. But it didn't really bother me. It makes the book more human, more down to Earth.It was clearly written by their grandmother. Many of the stories had the kids excited to go see Nana.The author doesn't always start a new paragraph with the next person's dialogue, and the children's dialog is pretty unrealistic for the way children talk. Instead, it seems like the children are saying exactly what adults think they should be saying, big words and all. In that way, it is good because it shows children clearly what we want them to think and do. But no kid would ever say, "My lack of self-control caused you irritation."I also did not like that in this 30 page book, the kids ate ice cream, baked cookies, and ate fudge. I'm trying not to have a lot of stuff that talks about junk food in the house.This review makes it sound like the book isn't very good, but I did like it and am glad I got it. Physically it is a nice hardcover with nice glossy pages with pleasing colors. Whoever put this together has some graphical skills.On the last page there are 3 family photos, one with the grandmother holding Kate (the other author and her daughter) as a baby, then both of them when she has her own baby, Lauren (one of the 6 cousins) and then a "current" picture with the three of them when Lauren is 3, the age she is in the book. Also on that page, it gives a website thelearningparent.com and direction to the accompanying curriculum called Character Concepts for Preschoolers that goes along with this book.I was a little disappointed that there weren't any questions or ways to discuss the character traits brought up in the stories in this book.All of that aside, anything that deals with character is a win in my book, and this does so in a straightforward way. The stories deal with things a kid might face in daily life. The parents are very clear in the beginning of each story what they expect from the kids, and then the kids struggle with themselves and end up making the right choices. They find out afterwards how right their parents were and end happy. They set good examples of what you want your kids to do. The parents praise the kids when they do a good thing.

This book is absolutely phenomenal. It's written like a devotional, but the examples are interesting and realistic (e.g. a little boy is acting out while mom's busy, two brothers are tempted to go pet horses when they were told not to, a little girl is tempted to not clean her room well, etc.). My 4 year old finds them captivating and it's great to be able to refer to the stories throughout the day.The character qualities covered are obedience, patience, honesty, gratefulness, respectfulness, responsibility, initiative, diligence, kindness, self-control, contentment and sharing.My only two criticisms would be that the photography is clearly amateur. It is well done for amateur photography but it made me cringe to see published photos taken with direct flash. If you're not a professional photographer, this probably won't bother you. Otherwise, the production quality is excellent. The pages are glossy and the book is beautiful.And secondly, I am of the strong opinion that the King James Version of the Bible is not the best (nor even a good) translation. But there's only one verse for each character quality so that's minor.Overall an absolutely phenomenal resource that I would highly, highly recommend.

My 5 year old loves this book and has me read it to her over and over. Seeing examples of good behavior from real pictured children instead of drawings has a great impact. We wish there were more in the series with a whole bunch of godly characteristics!

Lovely lessons with gentle reminders to act with character! Money well spent!

Saw this book on a vlog I follow on YouTube and I was so excited to see this on Amazon. Perfect for my children.

The meanings of the traits are great, the stories positive (instead of kid making wrong choice & learning from it- they do it right the first time) & the photos are big, fun & interesting. Really helping my kids & me too :-)

I bought this book for my two year old for Christmas, I think it's a little too advanced for her and probably intended for older children. But I'm sure she'll enjoy it more in a few years.

Very good for my littler crowd! Read a story at breakfast time! Great Conversation starter!

I loved that I found this book thanks to a friend of mine who had originally purchased it! It really keeps my 6-year-old daughter interested & makes her think about how she acts during the day. I guess cause kids always copy other kids! They are intrigued at each other's likes & interests.This is GREAT for the parents who have a difficult time finding good biblical encouraging literature for their kids these days! It's a rare treasure! And I highly recommend it!